Chanukeni is an orphan outreach programme set up by the Chanukeni Woman’s group designed to help orphans and other vulnerable children by providing them with a stable and safe environment in which to grow and learn.
Chanukeni encourages the existence of traditional community home life by providing a day care facility for children who have been orphaned. It creates a sense of responsibility amongst the children and their surviving family members.
Sally's Children's Trust team at the Chanukeni Orphanage
Why we want to help
On our recent visit to Chanukeni we met both the children and the leaders of the Chanukeni Woman’s Group.
Currently all of the 40 children (typically aged between 4/5 yrs old) that attend the centre sit in one small mud hut with no proper concrete floor and a very poor thatched roof. The hut has been built on piece of land that was donated by a group member who has also taken on the role of teaching the children.
The floors, in their sandy state, are the perfect breeding ground for jigger worms. This has resulted in a shocking infestation in the majority of the children who attend the day centre. There are no toilet facilities and a combination of diseases and sickness relating to poor hygiene such as diarrhoea, cholera and dysentery are rampant.
Despite the difficulties the children face each day we were all so moved by the warmth and irrepressible energy they exude. They are simply amazing, and as a group of Trust friends, it would be wonderful if in some small way we could help improve the quality of their lives.
Our lasting feelings on leaving the orphanage were as follows:
This project truly is a joint effort between us, Camp Kenya and the Chanukeni Woman’s Group. The Woman’s Group will be successful in running this centre and our support will greatly enhance their inspirational endeavours.
Traditionally woman are charged with the responsibility of taking care of children and normally become more emotionally involved with vulnerable children. In the Kibarani community, instances of death, many caused by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, have put a burden on woman to care for orphaned children. The Chanukeni Women’s Group is a joint effort by woman in the community to address issues of literacy, health and hygiene.
The group currently supports around 40 children many of whom are orphans, some of which are socially and economically deprived. The children are taken care of in a day care centre which also operates as a nursery school. Currently pupils are provided with an education and the aim of the group is to expand this with improved teaching materials and sports training.
Medical support is hampered by lack of transport and personnel: at present, any medical problems that arise regarding the children are treated by their relatives. This women’s group strives to provide nutritional and medical support to the children despite the lack of food and catering resources. Currently the children leave the centre early to have lunch at home.
As mentioned above the existing centre has been built on piece of land that was donated by a group member who has also taken on the role of teaching the children. The women’s group has also contributed limited materials to construct the centre, which at the moment is a very basic mud walled makuti thatched structure. The floors are not cemented which has led to an infestation of jigger worms in over 90% of the children who attend the day centre. Not only does this infection prove painful for the children but it also leads to a loss of study time and is detrimental to their education.
The centre is not equipped with sanitary facilities. Children therefore have no choice but to relieve themselves in the surrounding area. Diseases and sickness relating to poor hygiene is therefore rife including diarrhoea, cholera and dysentery. The centre requires toilet facilities to alleviate this situation.
Sally’s Children visited Chanukeni in June 2008 to meet the children and members of the Chanukeni Woman’s group to determine how we could best support them.
Following our visit and discussions with Camp Kenya, who will be working at grassroots level in Kenya on our behalf and providing volunteers to assist the woman’s group on a day to day basis, we have committed to provide financial assistance for the following stages of the project:
Total rebuild of the main orphanage building to include a weather resistant corrugated iron roof;
Construction of a kitchen facility;
Construction of toilet facility for the children and teachers; and
Re-digging of the existing well to provide water for drinking, cooking and sanitation.
In a very short space of time we are very excited to reveal that the Camp Kenya gappers have been working very hard at Chanukeni and are making great headway on the project.
Work has started in earnest on clearing the shrubland on site in preparation for the new structure. They have also dug the foundations of the new classroom and have made several building blocks for the construction.
We have established where the toilets will be erected and have also investigated the well on site which currently stands at 63ft deep. It will need to be at least another 20 feet deep to hit the water table judging by the other wells in the area.
Work is set to continue on the main orphanage building by the volunteers from Camp Kenya. The next phase will be to begin work on the kitchen facility and toilets.
The depth of the well will be completed to reach the water table and a new rope and pulley system will be provided to enable good management of the water on site.
